1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to patient wound care, and more specifically to systems and methods of wound coverings and dressings.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of negative pressure or vacuum to heal wounds has gained great acceptance over the last 2 decades. Negative-pressure wound therapy involves the application of a vacuum to a sealed wound dressing in order to facilitate the healing properties of an open traumatic or chronic soft tissue wound. These types of wounds occur acutely from injury or as part of a chronic disease, like diabetes mellitus. An open wound is a wound that is not able to be closed side-to-side by direct suture repair for some reason. These reasons include but are not limited to the dimensions/size of the wound, the level of contamination or infection in the wound. Wounds of this sort are very common in combat casualties. They represent the single most common injury pattern seen in soldiers elevated to Echelon V level of healthcare.
While the value of vacuum assisted wound healing has been known for nearly one-half century, this form of wound care technology was first marketed in the U.S. market in the early 90's by Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (KCI)—the Wound V.A.C. More recently, Blue Sky Medical, Inc. has released a negative pressure wound therapy device, the Versatile 1, which is based on concepts of negative pressure therapy that were publicly known. Both the KCI and Blue Sky Medical products, however, are subject to several key deficiencies. These deficiencies of conventional devices have apparently not been recognized as problems in the art, since they remain unaddressed.
A negative pressure wound care device typically includes a regulated vacuum source, tubing and collection canisters, and a porous dressing that can be sealed airtight. Negative pressure wound systems are used to treat open wounds either chronic as seen in conditions like diabetes or acute from trauma. Traditionally these wounds were treated with cotton gauze dressings which had to be changed three times per day. These changes were very painful to the patient and cost a significant amount of nurse and/or doctor labor hours. On the other hand, vacuum wound dressings can be left in place for several days, they are changed in the operating room (OR) so the patient is not awake and they essentially take care of themselves. This form of dressing reduces labor consumption and accelerates wound healing, often by 50% or more. However, conventional vacuum wound care devices are subject to a number of drawbacks giving rise to false failure alarm and increased susceptibility to patient infections.